The demographic for gun nuts, as reflected in the NRA membership, is old and white, flabby and crabby. My impression of a lot of these gun owners is that they are compensating for their lack of physical fitness as well as reflecting a more commonly right wing unreasonable fear and suspicion of the world. These individuals don't strike me as the optimum candidates to be entrusted with lethal weapons, no matter how often they claim they are safe. We have far too many incidents which suggests this is a correct assessment, that these people are a disaster, deliberate or accidental just waiting to happen. There may from time to time be variation in one or more of the characteristics, but overall, it seems a great rule of thumb to identify people we should not be allowing to arm, least of all permitting them to be armed in public, because they are a danger to themselves and to the rest of us. In that context, any and all 'Shoot First' laws should be repealed, effective immediately. We do not need these extra homicides or injuries from gun nuts shooting people. We need to return to the same premise in law that is respected in the rest of the world (the parts where they don't have only the tiniest fraction of the shootings we have ) of duty to retreat, a premise that it is better to let law enforcement do whatever shooting needs to be done, and that private individuals should only do so when there is no other alternative - and when they can do so safely without injuring an innocent victim.
Here is the latest:
Man shoots himself and wife -- at gun safety class
The Roanoke Times
By Duncan Adams
BEDFORD COUNTY
A firearms safety course went awry in Bedford County on Saturday afternoon when a participant shot himself in the hand with a .45-caliber handgun and the bullet passed through his hand and struck his wife, seated next to him, in the leg.
Shot were Michael L. Deel, 54, and Michelle K. Deel, 49, both of Roanoke. Emergency dispatchers in Bedford County received a call at 12:25 p.m. reporting a shooting on Chapel Woods Drive. The Bedford County Sheriff's Office said county rescue units and deputies responded.
The Deels were attending a firearms safety class being taught and hosted by Thomas Starke, 57, according to the department.
The sheriff's office said Starke told deputies that he had left the room, heard a shot and returned to find the Deels had been shot.
The couple was taken by ambulance to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The shooting remains under investigation.
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